


Parasite

by FudoTwin17



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), Merlin (TV)
Genre: Complicated Plots, Complicated Relationships, F/M, Freaking Creepy Monsters, Gen, Guilt, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Mentioned Spoiler for Jurassic Park, Mind Control, Not Canon Compliant, Reincarnation, Slavery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2016-03-02
Packaged: 2018-05-04 07:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5325440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FudoTwin17/pseuds/FudoTwin17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Doctor and Donna discover that the powerful Merlin is being held a slave, they are on the clock to save him before it's too late. Of course, this means going through time and space to find the reincarnations of the heroes and villains of Camelot - and convincing them that neither Donna nor the Doctor are crazy.</p>
<p>They don't have time to waste, and if they fail, the monster that repeats, repeats, repeats gets Merlin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Help

The Doctor didn't look at Donna, not willing to meet any of her fleeting, searching glances that spoke so many volumes with her loud and straightforward personality. She was worried-he could tell-but he didn't want to deal with it, not then. Maybe it was a bit childish, especially for one as old as himself, but he needed just a moment. Just a few moments of calm and peace and-

“What's that?” Questioned Donna, one eyebrow raised.

The Doctor blinked at the fiery woman, but he quickly realized what she meant. He was holding something in his hand, something he hadn't realized he'd picked up. His psychic paper. “A message, apparently.” He replied.

Donna leaned to his side, looking at it the same as him, whether or not she could see the message on the psychic paper. She rose an eyebrow at him, curiosity in her eyes.

“Help.” The Doctor read.

“Help?” Donna repeated.

“Yes. That's what I said.” The Doctor replied snappishly, an automatic reaction to her parroting, swallowing at the haunting reminder of that _thing._

Donna scowled at him. If it were any other time, the Doctor could imagine the things that might come from her lips-fiery and angry and snippy and perfectly Donna. But not today, not now. “Is that it? Help?”

“Yes and no. It's something new.” The Doctor said. Because even looking at the paper, he knew it wasn't a normal cry for help. Usually the psychic paper caught onto whole thoughts and gave him more information like a child looking for its mother in panic.

However, this paper read something very simple, very simple indeed. Just one word. The psychic paper always caught onto thoughts, whole thoughts, but this was . . . simple. Someone or thing had focused this one word. It was almost as though someone had been pushing that one singular thought with enough force to imprint the word on anything or anyone that could possibly listen within the area. But if they had pushed it so hard, then they may still be pushing, still be . . .

“I believe we may be about to help a psychic.” The Doctor declared.

“How on earth did you get that from one bloody word?” Donna demanded, eyes boring into the little slip of paper with concentration that her frustration had already broken for her.

“Because I'm The Doctor.” The Doctor smiled at his redheaded companion and held out his hand. “Now come. Hold my hand.”

Donna rose a fiery eyebrow at him in return, but she held his hand. Then he closed his eyes. His companion gave him a look, one eyebrow raised but simply sighed and went along with his antics.

When the two opened their eyes, they were in a field. Donna gave a quiet gasp and nearly let go of the Doctor, but he tightened his grip. The night sky seemed dark and oppressive above them, and forestry pressed on their every side. If they squinted, they could even make out the shape of a castle looming in the distance above the trees.

“How . . . .” Donna trailed off, but she couldn't find the words to express herself.

“I'm sorry if your heads hurt or anything like that.” A voice called from behind them. “I just need your help, and this seems to be the only way I can communicate.”

The two of them spun around, eyes wide. “Jethro!” The Doctor gasped, but seeing the boy's eyes darken, he knew immediately that he was wrong. This wasn't the boy he had met mere hours ago.

He had the same face of blue eyes, dark hair, and alabaster skin, but the way he held himself was different. He was less a boy and more a man with too much weight on his shoulders. He wore threadbare clothes with boots nearly falling apart, an old, musty jacket, and a bright red handkerchief. He gave a tight smile.

“Jethro?” Asked Donna. “Who's Jethro?”

“Me, I'm afraid, but not really.” Jethro said. Both Donna and the Doctor gave Jethro looks of curiosity and confusion, and he quickly tried to rectify both issues. “See, I was at Midnight a bit ago. It seems I may have given the Doctor a bit of a scare, and I am so sorry. I'm not exactly in full control of myself, see.” Jethro gave the Doctor a piercing look, and a chill went down Donna's spine. “And I am sorry, Doctor, for what happened on the way to the caves.”

An immediate tension leaked into the Doctor's spine, and Donna almost winced as he gained a tight grip on her hand. “You still haven't told us your name.” The Doctor said.

“So I haven't.” Agreed the man. Slowly, he approached them, and the sky seemed even more oppressive, the forest less of an escape route and more crowded, blocking any attempts to run. “I'd have you guess, but it seems I'm much too old for that. I'm even older than you, Doctor.”

The man before them stopped, leaving just enough space for them to relax in normal conversation, but there could be no relaxation. His presence alone was startling and a bit like electricity. It was shocking and a bit terrifying with a quiet buzz that seemed to make every hair on the back of Donna's neck stand up, but it was the Doctor's quiet gasp that made her truly feel as though she stood before a true power.

“You can't be.” The Doctor breathed, but Donna could see in his eyes that yes, the man before her was, and he was _interesting._ Her spaceman was hooked on this new man, this new story, and there was no stopping this adventure for him.

And maybe she was hooked, too, a little bit.

“But I am.” Said the man, and Donna could have sworn his eyes flashed gold like lightning.

“Sorry to interrupt.” Donna spoke, screwing up her courage in the midst of the seeming gathering of power and intrigue. “But who are you?”

The man who wasn't but was Jethro smiled at her kindly and indulgently, a bit like the Doctor when she thought about it, spoke with a very soft breath. She almost had to lean in to catch his voice, but when she did, his words seemed thunderous in her mind. “I'm Merlin.”

Merlin.  _Merlin_ ! She thought there had been no such thing! But one look at the Doctor and that calculating gleam of his told her that this was no surprise to him.

Merlin ( _Merlin!_ ) continued on that same soft breath. “And I need your help.”

Before he could continue or Donna could try to wrap her mind around his identity, the ground began to shake. The night and the field seemed to struggle to hold their form against flashes of a white room too much like a hospital room for comfort. As it stopped, Donna and the Doctor glanced at one another.

The Doctor rose his eyes. “What-”

He cut himself off (quite the feat, if Donna could say so), but before she could question it, she saw Merlin. 

It was almost like looking at an entirely different person. Spiked hair and looking as though he belonged in a rock band, she spotted a necklace with an interesting design as well as two rings and bracelets that looked too much like bindings for her comfort. Even his belt was studded. But the thing that caught her attention was his face.

He had become pale and tired, eyes haunted. He stared at his hands as though he barely recognized them. His eyes seemed to stare deep into her soul when he rose his eyes to her, and a shiver ran down her spine. “I haven't much time.”

“Time for what?” The Doctor asked as the night sky fought the image of the white ceiling once again.

“This connection. We haven't much time left to talk, so I must hurry.” Merlin swallowed, looking like a teenager for that moment with the terror in his eyes so dark and overwhelming. “It was eighteen years after Arthur's death. I had realized by then that I wasn't aging as the rest of my friends, and I had become the court sorcerer of Camelot.” A brief smile touched his eyes, but it was gone before any joy could be brought to him. The environment seemed to switch again, struggling. “It was a noble family. Dion, I believe, but it's been too long to know for sure. They said they needed healing for their daughter, and I believed it. They trapped me with dark magic and bound me with it.” Disgust and grief made his face, handsome though it was, ugly. Donna winced. He swallowed, seeming to struggle with speaking.

“Then what?” The Doctor prompted. “I can't help if you don't tell me.”

Donna considered hitting him for the harsh words, but Merlin managed to force himself to speak. “Nothing. Nothing happened for centuries. They laid low, using me for cheap, disgusting habits. Sometime in the seventeenth or eighteenth century, I managed to start gaining some awareness. I started being able to rebel a bit, but even now I can't fully stand up to them. I can't ignore a direct order.” He looked at the Doctor, pained.

Something seemed to pass through Merlin's look, and understanding crossed her Doctor's face. He didn't share, but his lips parted in a silent fury.

Donna turned away, looking the warlock in the eyes. “How can we help?”

He took a deep breath, his eyes focusing just over her shoulder. Faintly, Donna wondered if he was looking at the castle behind her. She wondered if it was as he remembered. “The dark magic used to bind me created an imbalance in the world, and magic repaired it the only way it could.”

“A way to break your curse?” Asked Donna.

Merlin smiled bitterly. Donna somehow felt as though it didn't fit on his face. It looked wrong, maybe even terrifying. The grass flickered to tile. “For each binding, a figure from Arthur's age is born. It's only through them that my bindings may be broken. I know one figure is that of Arthur.” A pained look crossed his face. He looked so much in pain that even his presence didn't deter Donna's wish to hug him. “The rest are a mystery to me. There will be nine figures. Please find them before it's too late.”

“Why?” The Doctor spoke up.

Donna bristled. “What do you mean  _why_ ? Wouldn't you want someone to help if it were you?”

“Why now?” The Doctor demanded. “You've been trapped for longer than I've been alive, and that's saying something. Why haven't you asked for help before?”

Donna's fury immediately curbed (a little – after all, he could have been nicer), and she turned to Merlin, eyes sparkling with sympathy. He swallowed. “There's a monster out there without a name. It's dark and powerful, and all it does is repeat.”

The Doctor's head snapped up. “You don't mean –”

“I do. They can see that they don't have full control over me anymore, and they've made some kind of a deal. I don't know what kind, but with me under full control, they're going to take the universe and everything else and take it for themselves. They intend to control life itself.” Merlin looked shaken, his eyes dark as though he knew something that he could never truly express, and Donna's eyebrows furrowed.

“They couldn't, could they? Not with just you. Doctor?” She turned to him, but his eyes were dark with knowledge that he, too, knew and could not ever share. “Doctor?” She begged in a insecure desperation.

“They could.” The Doctor confirmed, destroying any hope Donna had. “The Arthurian legends do not exaggerate Merlin's powers. In fact, they do quite the opposite.”

The stinging sensation of Merlin's presence seemed to intensify at the acknowledgment, but Donna knew it was merely her recognition of his true power that caused the intensity. Such power didn't belong to the hands of anyone who would abuse it.

Suddenly, she was afraid of what would happen if they couldn't find them.

“I need you both to go to the Lake.” Merlin spoke, his hands beginning to tremble in their encasement. “There you can find traces of energy. Look for that energy, and you will find those that will return.”

“But we can't.” The Doctor's eyebrows were furrowed. “We can't go back to that time –”

“Then don't.” Merlin interrupted. “Go after Arthur's death. There's no chance of interfering or breaking the time-lock then.” He smiled a heart-breaking smile at them. “You Time Lords. Always so afraid of breaking the time-stream as if you could. Time is fluid, Doctor. A mix of balance and maneuverability. Some things cannot be changed no matter how we try.” He looked sad. “Remember that, Doctor. It will save you some heartbreak.”

Before Donna or the Doctor could respond, the Earth beneath their feet began to shake. It was only Donna's painfully tight grip on her Doctor's hand that stopped her from falling.

“I'm afraid our time has come to an end.” Merlin breathed, seeming pained. “I'll try to contact you again, but I may not have the strength.” Everything started to take an unhealthy glow, and Donna realized sickly that the white room was beginning to take over once and for all. “Goodbye, Doctor, Donna.”

Suddenly, they were back on Midnight, holding hands and the psychic paper back in the Doctor's hand, teasing them with the lost message for help.

With a sickening feeling of horror in her stomach, Donna looked at the Doctor. “We never told him for sure we were going to help him.”

He spared her a look before he took her hand in his. “Come on.” He grinned. “Next stop – The Lake of Avalon.”

They ran.

 


	2. The Lake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To meet the reincarnations of everyone, the Doctor and Donna must meet their ghosts first.

“What did he mean?” Donna asked the moment her feet stopped in the TARDIS. Her face was puzzled, but her eyes were locked with a certain intensity on the Doctor that spoke of a level of trust despite her confusion.

The Doctor, who had run ahead to start pulling at levers and running around the console like a madman, hardly paused. “What do you mean what did he mean?”

Donna puffed a piece of red hair out of her face and crossed to the console, getting in his direct line of vision. “The time-lock? What's a time-lock, and why can't we go to Avalon while Arthur's alive?”

“Oh, well,” The Doctor's sight went beyond her, and his voice seemed to be his I'll-tell-you-without-actually-telling-you voice. Donna crossed her arms, giving him a look that told him exactly what would happen if he tried to weasel out of answering her, “I guess it's like a lock on a door. I've told you that time is all wibbly and wobbly, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Donna replied, but it seemed like the Doctor went on without needing her confirmation.

“Now imagine that someone grabbed a great, big chunk of the wibbly wobbly and put it in a glass jar. You go in, you break the jar, and if the jar shatters, you have an unprotected time stream. Most of time doesn't matter that much – ”

“Well, thanks.” Donna snorted, and the Doctor seemed to have caught his mistake.

“No, no, no, no, no! No! No, Donna. Bad.” He paused in his ramblings to say, flipping another switch that tossed them all about the TARDIS.

“Oi!” She snapped from where she'd latched onto one of the few handholds. “I'm not a dog!”

“No!” The Doctor exclaimed again as he jumped up. “It's not a matter of the importance of the people! It's a matter of the time that's important. If a single second is changed, it changes the course of human history! See now, Donna?”

“No.” She stated, brushing herself off as she stood. She gave him a sharp look.

“If we, say, dropped into one of the battles of Camelot, for instance,” The Doctor continued. “and then we looked around and got involved, let's say we saved someone from death. All of a sudden, this new person is alive, and time changes. Imagine that King Arthur meets her and falls in love before Guinevere.” Donna approached, so intrigued and caught up in the Doctor that she forgot to be mad. “Suddenly, Guinevere's destiny changes, and she's not on the throne when Arthur dies. This other woman wouldn't rule like Queen Guinevere, yeah? So all of a sudden, the whole of Camelot is changed which changes all of Europe as Camelot was long enough ago that its rules and structures are the basis for your society. Imagine that changes, huh? Your entire life would be rewritten all because there was a different queen on the throne. And that's only one of the better scenarios.”

“Better?” Donna's eyebrows rose. “The rules of society and my life rewritten are one of the better ones?”

“Yeah.” The Doctor crossed his arms and leaned forward. “I mean, what if this woman turned out to be one of the greatest witches of all time and managed to kill Merlin or Arthur before they did as necessary? Or if Guinevere was angry that she wasn't chosen and joined Morgan Le Fey? That could spell the downfall of Camelot and your entire society. Or maybe – ”

“Stop.” Donna interrupted. “I understand. No breaking your time-lock thing.”

“Good. Now,” The Doctor dropped down to the ground and rummaged under the console for a moment before popping up again with a big device with swirling wires, turning gears, and a ginormous horn in his other hand that looked like he'd taken it from an old record player, “let's go see what's outside.”

Donna blinked before grinning and running to the door, wrenching it open and jumping through, leaving the door open for the Doctor.

Mud. It turned out that mud was outside and a lot of it, too. Donna scowled at the ground, finding it all looked like sludge and stones on the side of a street that was a bit of a climb without her tennis shoes.

Why hadn't she thought about tennis shoes before she walked out in her nice shoes.

The Doctor jumped out, device in his hands just as big as ever with the horn piece pointed at his companion's face. Donna tried to scowl at him but couldn't hide the twitch of a smile. “Oi, spaceman! Point that thing somewhere else.”

He lowered it, smiling at her. Slowly, his eyes trailed around the area, taking in the mud pile they stood in on the side of the road, the trees of the forest on their other side, and the bright sky above them. He looked back at the redhead and gave her his signature grin. She grinned back, immediately knowing what he meant.

Together, the two climbed up so that they could stand on the side of the road. It was a dirt path with occasional stones and seemed very straight and well kept. There was hardly a single weed poking its way up through the path.

The two were just about ready to guess which way to go when the Doctor grabbed Donna and pulled her into the mud and dirt with him. Her mouth opened to complain at him – After all, the nice outfit she'd worn for a day at the spa was to the point where she'd rather pitch it than wash it – when he clamped a hand over her mouth. Donna gave him a look, and he quickly released her but only after raising a finger to his lips.

The two brought their eyes to the road once again as the marching of soldiers reached their ears. A procession of soldiers was coming down the path. In the lead was an older man. Once, he might have had red or brown hair, but it now was lightened with gray, rising from his sideburns and the hair at the nape of his neck. Donna hardly noticed his chainmail or the sword at his side. It was his eyes that caught her attention.

Deep brown eyes that looked so deeply sorrowful held her attention. They seemed to be grieving.

A tap on her shoulder made her look at her Doctor who pointed at the golden dragon crest on the knight's cloak. “That's the emblem of Camelot.”

Donna rose her eyes again to the man, this time forcing her attention away from him and his pain. He seemed to lead a procession of twenty or thirty men. Just behind him were a group of six soldiers, each holding part of a makeshift bed from wood. Donna rose from the mud just a bit to see.

On the wood bed laid another knight, though much bigger than the first, in chainmail and a red cloak, but this one's arms were bare, gauntlets around his wrists. A belt held his chainmail together like a jacket with a couple leather clasps. His short hair was graying, but not quite to the degree of the first knight. His eyes were closed, and Donna could almost imagine he was sleeping.

If not for the three crossbow bolts sticking out of his chest.

The knights seemed to walk as one, a blanket of deep mourning and grief laying over them like a cloud. It was so powerful that it seemed to pull Donna in, silent tears burning in her eyes as she watched them make their way past. A gentle hand gently roused her from the spell.

The Doctor looked at her, a deep sadness in his eyes. “Come on.” He whispered, going back down to the TARDIS.

Donna gave the procession one last look before turning and following her Doctor. She wiped away a stray tear before clearing her throat. “So you know where the lake is, yeah?”

The Doctor blinked at her before saying, “Nah.”

Donna put her hands on her hips, eyebrows furrowing. “So you're saying that we came all this way to go to a lake without knowing where this lake is?”

The Doctor gave her a look. “Yeah.”

Donna threw her hands down. “Great. Just great. How are we going to help him now?” She demanded.

“Doctor, Donna!” Exclaimed a voice from the road. They looked up to see a hooded figure looking down at them. Cloaked in green and brown, the figure stumbled down into the mud to reach them. Though Donna watched the figure, she noticed as the Doctor subtly closed the door to the TARDIS as they approached. “I am so glad to finally see you with my own eyes!”

“Ah.” The Doctor said. “That's good. That's, uh, very good.”

Donna wasn't sure quite what to say, but thankfully, she didn't have to say a thing. The figure rushed on. “Forgive me. I know you, but you do not know me.” He threw down his hood, revealing a young man with dark skin and an excited smile. It seemed as though he had an interesting tattoo with a swirling design peeking out of his cloak, but Donna tried not to stare. “I am Carter, and you are the Doctor, Donna!” He laughed. “I have been waiting for you for a long time! I have a message to deliver to you.”

“Who from?” The Doctor asked, his eyebrows furrowed. Donna couldn't help but notice he had his strange device curled in his hands like a child.

“Hang on.” Interrupted Donna before he could answer. “How do you know us if we don't know you?”

Before the Doctor could remind Donna of the fact that they were _time travelers_ , Carter grinned. “My magic isn't strong, but I do have the gift of Sight. I see you in my dreams, and my dreams always lead me to here where I am to deliver a message.”

“Which is from . . . .” The Doctor prompted, ignoring Donna's wide-eyed look.

“I cannot tell you. I can only tell you the message, but I must say that I doubt it's from any one person. It's too strong as if all of magic is crying out.” A dark shadow crossed Carter's face. “And the only one with magic as powerful as that is trapped and locked inside a shadow of his former self.”

“We can't do anything about that now.” The Doctor stated, interrupting the darkness on the other man's face.

Taken from his oppressive thoughts, the young man smiled at him. “That is why you are here. To do something, yes? Well, it will take time, but I will give you my message, and maybe then you might be able to do something about that, and I will have good dreams.”

“Alright-y then.” The Doctor grinned. “Give me your message.”

“Walk through the trees, and magic will take you where you need to go.” Carter stated.

There was a short pause before Donna frowned at Carter. “Is that all?”

Carter nodded. “I'm afraid that's all that I was given to say, but Donna, I should say something to you of my own.” He leaned forward, lips almost brushing her ear and whispered “Don't let her change your mind. Turn left.” Then he was gone, a smile on his face. “I'm afraid that's all I have. I must be on my way.”

Turning his concerned stare away from his companion, the Doctor nodded at Carter. “Thank you.”

“No need.” The man stated. “Just releasing him will be all the thanks I need.” With that, he nodded and walked away, whistling a soft tune.

The moment he was gone, the Doctor jumped Donna. “What did he tell you?”

She looked at him slowly, eyebrows furrowing. “I don't know.”

With that, they made their way into the woods. As the trees and brush swallowed them, the thick canopy overhead blocked out the light. The crush of needles underfoot became the only sound until Donna spoke up again. “Carter said he had the Sight. Is this like – like Pompeii?”

The Doctor was shaking his head even before she finished. “No. Camelot is different, much, much different than Pompeii. Their Sight, for one, doesn't come from aliens. They're – ”

“And he said magic, too, didn't he?” Donna interrupted. “But that's impossible. Magic doesn't exist.”

“We're on a mission to save Merlin himself from a mind-control spell by finding the reincarnations of people from Arthurian legend, and it's just now occurred to you that magic doesn't exist?” The Doctor asked.

“Oi! No need to be rude.” Donna snapped, crossing her arms.

“Right, right. It's not that magic doesn't exist, just that it has different names. For instance, a sea monster one day is defined as some kind of fish the next. Different names, yeah? Same goes for magic. The people of this time have mastered the ability of using the energy of the soul to do things. It's energy, Donna. Like potential energy turns to – ”

“To kinetic energy.” Donna smiled at the Doctor. “I've been to school.”

“It's just like that!” The Doctor smiled before pausing. “Well, it's not, but let's say it is. Magic is science with different vocabulary and the same goes for science.”

Donna smiled at her Doctor. “I'll tell ya what, though. We're in Camelot saving Merlin with a record player.”

“Oi!” The Doctor complained, stopping in his brusque walk. “It's not a record player!” He called, stroking the horn part of his contraption before he looked up, and his eyes widened. “And we are no longer in the woods.”

“What? But it's still dark.” Donna rose her eyes up to the canopy, but shock set in when instead of thick leaves she saw the moon, full and bright without a cloud in sight. “But it was just day!”

“Yeah, but now everything's different.” The Doctor stated, a seriousness set in that was usually tempered by silly antics and his fast speech.

Donna turned away from the moon and her Doctor to gaze out at what was just a forest. Instead of trees and bushes and twigs that ripped at her ruined outfit, what she saw was a clear plain with just a few branches and vines in its midst. In front of it was a large, beautiful lake so still and clear that it served as a mirror, reflecting the moon and sky. In the distance were trees and mountains as far as the eye could see. Amazed at its beauty, she turned to see the Doctor's reaction but felt her breath stutter.

The Doctor was utterly still, his eyes distant and sad in a way that not even sorrow could acutely describe him.

Donna reached a hand toward him, almost afraid to touch. “Doctor, what's wrong?”

“Can you hear it?” He whispered, voice hoarse.

She shook her head, and he gave her a look. Immediately, it brought her back to the Ood, and their melody of slavery. She couldn't take it then, and she doubted she could now, but the sadness in his eyes made him so lonely before her. Standing right next to her, he was as lonely as if he were alone.

And she knew that he wouldn't offer her to hear it again after the Ood.

Slowly, she took his invention and set it down by the water before taking his hands and puting them on her own temples, holding them gently. He gave her a piercing look before nodding, and she _felt._

It was vibrating, moving, _breathing_ – Everything. From the lake to the trees and the moon, everything was alive. She lost her breath, shaking at the pure being and energy that seemed to radiate through the clearing from the grass to the air. It was so alive that she could barely feel herself.

And then there was the song.

It was something she expected after the Ood, but this wasn't a part of her expectations.

It sounded as though it was coming from the very lake itself, singing from its watery depths, but it was clear as though it came from directly before her. The song wasn't like the Ood that had one melody altogether with different pitches and parts. No, this was different as every voice had a separate being, a separate song to sing that rose up and joined the rest in a song comprised of everyone's song together as a whole.

“What is it?” Whispered Donna, shaking hands dragging the Doctor forward into a hug. He was slow, but she felt it as he carefully wrapped his hands around her.

“It's the song of the dead. The song of Camelot. They say that the dead go to Avalon for the afterlife. I've never believed in . . . . Well . . . .”

They held one another until it was gone.

Not gone, really, though. Donna could still hear the echoes of the song in her mind and the life all around her. Everything was still just as alive, but the deep ache that it brought to life inside of her was now bearable. She backed away from the Doctor, seeing the same in his eyes along with confusion.

Until he saw the lake.

Donna spun around as not to be caught unawares, but froze at the sight. On the water was a woman. Her red dress seemed rich, almost made of velvet, and fell around her. Her hair was dark and short, framing a cute face with deep brown eyes. She smiled at them kindly, stepping forward some. Her bare feet touched the water and walked across it, but the water did not ripple at her touch.

Neither Donna nor the Doctor spoke.

“Hello.” The woman spoke. Her voice was not weak, but it was not loud. As such, Donna was surprised she could hear each word like the ringing of a bell. “Doctor, Donna.”

“How do you know our names?” Asked Donna softly.

“I've been waiting for you.” The woman replied. “I am the Lady of the Lake, but you may call me Freya. It has been four years since they bound my love, and it will be many more before he might be unbound.” Her eyes went dark, and Donna felt a deep, primal fear wake up inside of her. This woman was dangerous underneath the softness. “And they will pay for their transgression.”

The Doctor knelt to grab his contraption before looking at the woman again. “We are here for your help as well to save Merlin.”

The woman smiled, eyes turning soft again. “Yes, but I'm afraid we have a visitor before we continue.” Her eyes flashed gold for a moment – unless it was a trick of the light – and Donna gasped.

A man stepped through the trees a few paces from Donna and her Doctor and onto the water, his touch leaving the glass still like a mirror as well. With the red cape and chainmail, it was clear to see he was a knight of Camelot. But the short sleeves, the belt, and his gauntlets made Donna gape because even though he was younger, bigger, and with sandy hair instead of gray, Donna knew exactly who this knight was.

This knight was dead.

“Hello, Sir Percival.” The Lady of the Lake called, but Percival turned his sight on Donna and the Doctor.

“Merlin.” He said, seeming to struggle to get out the word. “Save Merlin?”

“Ah. You heard.” Freya sighed. “Yes, I'm afraid he's in trouble.”

“I want to help.” He spoke lowly, seeming to gain back control over his vocals.

“You can, and you will.” Promised Freya. “But first, you must rest. Come to Avalon, Sir Percival. It's your time.”

The knight seemed to struggle, turning away from her to go into the forest, but Freya rose a hand. The knight froze, acting like he was made of stone. Eyes wide, the two time travelers couldn't look away.

“I am sorry, Sir Percival, but there's nothing you can do.” Freya softly told him.

“Please! There has to be something!” He exclaimed, turning around to face her.

“There is. One day, you will be reborn, and the Doctor and Donna will come to get you. Go with them, and then you can help them, but if you decide to remain, you will forever be doomed to walk the mortal plane with no body, no voice, and no help.” Sir Percival seemed to struggle with indecision. “Please, Sir Percival. Save Merlin for me.”

Though there was no physical tell, Donna could feel it when the knight gave in.

“Alright.” He whispered. He slowly crossed to the Lady of the Lake, but just before he reached her, he turned to the Doctor and Donna. “How long will he have to wait for . . . .”

Neither the Doctor nor Donna answered him, so Freya whispered “Rest now, Sir knight, and you will awaken soon. I will wake you all, and Merlin will be saved.”

With that, a light burst from the center of the lake so bright and white that the Doctor and Donna had to shield their eyes. When they looked back, there was nothing. No lake. No night sky. Not even a forest.

They were back beside the TARDIS on the side of the road.

The sudden disconnect made Donna's head spin. “Doctor! What?”

“Yes!” The Doctor exclaimed behind her. Donna spun around, eyes wide to see him holding his gadget with a great grin. He held it out to her. “Come on, Donna! We've got some knights to find!”

The TARDIS door slammed shut behind them.

 


	3. Welcome to the '90s

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Donna are happy to find a knight, but he's not so happy to see them.

“Doctor, where are we?” Donna asked immediately as they stepped out of the Tardis. The two oddities were standing at what appeared to be a dock, surrounded by a few fairly colorful groups of people, a few runners, and an assorted amount of homeless men (or at least looked homeless).

Donna watched as the Doctor turned away from his box, shutting the door. He licked a finger before putting it in the air and licking it again. Immediately, he gagged and wiped it on his striped suit. “America. The good ol' US of A. This place always throws me off, but I believe we're in the early twenty-first century. Definitely before I picked you up.” He told her, nodding.

Donna watched a group of girls pass, one wearing a _Back to the 90s_ shirt that made her lift an eyebrow. “You sure about that?”

“Of course!” Exclaimed the Doctor, seemingly pouting at her. Donna rose one challenging eyebrow before swiping a newspaper off of an empty bench at the edge of the dock. “In fact, I'd say we're in California. It's been a while since I've been here!”

“Yeah, well, you're right about the California part.” Donna replied, turning toward him and the cityscape gleaming in the mid-afternoon sun. “But the year is '96.”

“What?” The Doctor snatched it from her hand, looking at it before scowling lightly (or pouting, as Donna would say). Grumbling to himself, he tossed it back on the bench and began walking.

It wasn't long before he had completely forgotten about his minor upset and was happily pointing things out, talking about the last time he'd come to California (alternating talking about the San Andres Fault, some observatory, and how someone called Sarah Jane had managed to get lost and lock herself in a closet with a very unhappy alien). When they walked past an ice cream stand, he flashed the psychic paper and got them free cones, and they were off again.

About half an hour of walking passed when Donna tossed the last of their ice creams, and she asked the Doctor in simple terms “How are we supposed to find anyone when we don't even know who we're looking for?”

Before he could reply, they came across a stage set up in a clearing in a park surrounded by reporters and news anchors with one very familiar man on the stage. A man and woman stood in front of a very large microphone with a small boy holding their hands.

“Like that, I suppose.” The Doctor replied. He grinned at her before grabbing her hand and rushing toward the swarming mass of people in the crowd.

“. . . so happy that Andy is home. We can't express our gratitude.” The woman was saying, squeezing the child's hand as she was practically crushed into the man's side. The man behind them didn't react at all.

“What's going on?” The Doctor asked a man at the back of the crowd.

He turned, raising an eyebrow. He had a big afro with a pick sticking out of the top. Dark skin was complemented by a red top tucked into a pair of jeans. “Where you been, man? It's the story of the century. Everybody knows what's gone down.”

“Yeah, sorry. Not from around here.” Donna pointed out, smiling at the man.

Seeming to realize that they really weren't from the area (as evidenced by their definitely _not_ American accents), the man replied “The kid Andy went for a walk and disappears, first. It was a couple days ago.”

“That's awful.” Donna said as the man pointed at the child onstage. He looked to be barely nine or ten and hiding behind his mother's legs as much as possible.

“Tell me about it.” The man groused, one hand coming up to grip his gold chain. “Ain't nobody meant to touch a kid, no matter how messed up you are.”

“Then what happened?” Asked the Doctor, steering the man back on course. The man before them released his chain before continuing.

“Alright, then the parents panic a bit. They call the police, but the police don't do anything, so they call in that guy.” The man pointed at the familiar figure onstage who was seemingly out of place behind the weepy family. “Name's Percy McClain. He moved here a couple years ago. He's supposedly the best to call for missing people. He spent his whole career on it. He jumps in, finds a video of some dude pulling the kid into a van, searches for the van, finds the guy, and rescues the kid.”

Donna smiled, looking at the stage. “So he became a private detective. I'm impressed.”

Both she and the Doctor said their goodbyes to the helpful man before moving forward through the crowd. The closer they got, the easier it was to distinguish the short, blond hair, the blue eyes, the light stubble, and the heavy-looking trench coat he wore in the blazing sun.

“And most importantly, we want to thank Mr. McClain.” The man said when his wife had gotten too choked up. “When the police said there was nothing to be done, he swooped in and saved our boy, refusing to even talk price until Andy was found. And we – ” The man's voice broke, and the reporters seemed to surge closer as one as he cleared his throat. “And we will never be able to repay you. Thank you so much.”

There was a loud applause wherein Percy – or really the knight Percival – looked a bit uncomfortable but smiled politely anyway.

“Thank you.” The wife seemed to struggle to get out the words, but she was clear enough to be understood. “Thank you all for your support and help. Now we just want to take our son home.”

Though there were still quite a few reporters and anchors that harassed the family as they left, the majority were respectful enough to turn away. Donna noted that the ones that stayed were so consumed with the family that they completely missed it as Percy jumped off the stage, coat flying and began walking the opposite direction. Donna and the Doctor were immediately on his trail.

“Excuse us!” The Doctor called. However, Percy sped up. The two had to practically jog to keep up. “Please wait!”

He stopped short, turning around to glare at them. “What do you want?”

“Oh!” Donna exclaimed in surprise. “You're from London.”

Percival glared at her. “What do you want?”

“We're so terribly sorry, but we need you to come with us.” The Doctor said.

His blue eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“You won't believe me if I tell you.” Donna replied.

The Doctor looked at her before looking Percival in the eye. “But I'll tell you anyway. It starts in Camelot where King Arthur dies and leaves behind Queen Guinevere, his knights,” Percy rolled his eyes and started to turn away, but the Doctor gripped him by the sleeve, pulling him back to stare into his deep blues, “and Merlin.” Percy froze, seeming to actually listen. “But then something horrible happened. A noble family trapped Merlin in his mind, controlling him to their will, and there was no one to stop them. And that's how it's been for Merlin since then. Thousands of years trapped in servitude of people who will never let him go. He's a slave, but we could free him. We really could.”

“What's stopping you, then?” Asked Percy, breathing a little shallow.

“We need your help.” The Doctor breathed.

There was a beat of silence. A single breeze ruffled the scene, but not even that could interrupt the thick tension oozing through the air. For a moment, Donna believed that Percy would come with them.

Then he blinked.

“You're both insane.” Percy stated, tearing himself away from the Doctor. “The Arthurian legends are just that – legends. What makes you think I could help?”

“Because you're Sir Percival.” Donna breathed. “And you care about Merlin.”

“You need to get your heads checked.” The private eye snapped. “My name is Percy McClain, and I'm real. I'm no knight of the Round Table.” And he was off, marching away.

Donna felt disappointment and failure well up in her stomach as she watched him go. The Doctor grinned at her, and she glared back. “I think that went well.”

There were times where Donna could kill that man.

It was a few hours later that they found themselves camped out in front of a small white building with a sign reading _McClain Private Eye_. Though it looked open and welcoming, the door was locked, and there was a sign signaling the business was closed in the window. Donna sat against the door while the Doctor paced in front of her.

“What can we do to convince him?” Donna asked.

“Ooh, this is good. Thinking.” The Doctor muttered, running one hand through messy, brown locks. “Thinking, thinking, thinking! There has to be something we're missing.”

“It's good of him to go into looking for missing kids, yeah?” Donna asked, smiling slightly from her place on the ground. “It's almost like he's still playing knight in this day and age.”

“Shut up, Donna. Not helping.” The Doctor stated before stopping.

“Oi!” Donna exclaimed, but before she could say more he was in motion again, taking her hand and pulling her up.

“Oh, yes, yes, yes it is! Oh, Donna, that's brilliant!” The Doctor grinned at her, and then he was banging on the door. “Open up! We know you're in there! Come on!”

“Doctor, I don't understand.” Donna spoke, crossing her arms.

The Doctor paused in his banging on the door. He gave Donna a look. “Think about it. He's rescuing children. What's the question every kid is asked about their dream job?”

“Why?” Donna replied, understanding beginning to light her eyes. “Why do you want to be that?”

“Exactly!” Before the Doctor could continue banging, the door was roughly pulled open. Percy glared down at the two of them before turning and walking inside. Donna and the Doctor looked at each other before they followed the man inside.

Inside was dark, but only because the lights were out. Instead, the light from the window was what brightened the room, and with twilight on the way, there wasn't much light. Off to the side of the room by a window was a cream-colored sofa with a matching plush chair opposite it. Between them was a small coffee table with a few files closed and set to the corner by the chair. There was a desk in the room as well by a small television and a radio. Along one wall was a series of file cabinets. The room itself was painted an ugly pale yellow. Percy collapsed into the chair, seemingly exhausted. Donna and the Doctor found themselves in the sofa opposite.

Seeing that Percy wasn't going to start the conversation, the Doctor spoke. “Why are you a private eye?”

Startled, Percy's eyebrows furrowed before smoothing out. “Because it's the right thing to do.”

“No. Well, yes, it's the right thing to do, but that's not why you do it.” The Doctor leaned forward, hands between his knees. “See, I've been thinking about this for a few hours now, and it doesn't make sense. If you were doing because it's right, you'd be with some group like the police or UNIT or Scotland Yard, but you're not.”

“Maybe I'm a loner.” Percy snapped. Donna narrowed her eyes at the challenging tone in his voice.

“Except you're not, are you?” Returned the Doctor. “So there's some reason you're alone. Maybe you don't like the restrictions, or maybe you have a project you can't share. Is that it?”

Donna sat back, watching the inner turmoil boil inside of the man that was a ghost for her only a few hours ago. And a legend a few hours more. He clenched his fist, and suddenly, Donna thought about how Merlin had looked with his spiked hair and those lost eyes. He was a teenager, a child.

And Percival had put himself into the work of finding lost children.

But he wasn't going to volunteer anything, so Donna took a chance.

“He has blue eyes.” Percy looked up at her, startled, and the Doctor cut himself off. “Bluer than blue. It kind of reminded me of lightning. And his hair was messy. Black. His skin is pale with rings under his eyes like he hasn't got a lot of sleep. And there's something in his eyes and his face that screams – ”

“He's lost.” Whispered Percy. “He needs help and someone to help him, but he's been lost for so long while I've been asleep.” He looked up at her for a moment before his eyes cleared of a certain grief that Donna couldn't figure out where she'd seen it before. “How do you know about my dreams?”

“We know because they're not just dreams.” The Doctor said, eyes bright. “Who you're describing is Merlin himself.”

“But he's an old man, isn't he?” Percy asked, seeming to forget that he didn't believe the two strangers that appeared on his doorstep.

“No. Histories change over time, you know. Two thousand years playing a game of pass-it-down, and you think the story's accurate? Details change.” The Doctor waved it away, but Percy arched an eyebrow at the man.

“That's a pretty big detail.” He pointed out, seeming to remember himself as he leaned back to stare at them incredulously.

The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed as he realized Percy was drawing himself back into his shell. “No, no, no! Don't do that. Things were going so well!”

“Listen, I don't know how you two knew about my dreams, but I know fact from fiction. Monsters under the bed? Fiction. Evil people? Fact. Aliens? Fiction. New people? Fact. Arthurian legend? Fiction.” He stated clearly, and the Doctor quirked an eyebrow at him. He opened his mouth to argue again, but Donna beat him to the punch.

“Listen, meat-chops, I don't really care if you believe us or not, but we have a friend to save, and we need you to do it, so you have to come with us or – ”

“Fine.” Percival interrupted. “I'll come.”

The Doctor jumped from his seat, eyes wide. “Just like that?”

“You said your friend needed help. It's one thing to ask me to believe in fairy tales but quite another to ask me to help save someone. I'll do it. Just stop with the nonsense.” The man stood at the same time as Donna who grinned brightly.

As they made their way into the night air (after the resident giant locked up his building and wrote a note to have potential clients call), Percy grabbed the Doctor's shirt to pull him behind a bit. He quirked an eyebrow. “Meat-chops?”

The Doctor smiled at him. “Accurate.” He then pulled the much bigger man behind him to follow the redhead on a warpath. Though it took them half an hour or more to get to _McClain Private Eye_ , it only took about fifteen to twenty minutes to return to the Tardis.

The Doctor practically bounced forward to unlock it and slipped inside. Donna followed him quickly, and Percy stared at the small, blue box. “There's no way I'm going to fit with both of you in there.” He muttered before stepping inside.

His first thought was that it was _big_.

Donna and the Doctor hardly paid him any mind as they both ran up to the consul to fidget with a strange record playing device. Around them were hanging wires and tree things and circle things and it was all gold and metal, and Percy was surprised to find he was panicking a little. It had been a long time – before training for Scotland Yard – since he had had any real panic hit him.

His second thought was that he needed to run and disappear so that neither the Doctor nor his redhead could find him.

The doors slammed shut.

Eyes wide, Percy spun around to try to open them, but not even his superior strength could force him back into the outside world.

“Surprise.” He heard Donna say, and he turned to see both Donna and the Doctor grinning at him.

“It's . . . bigger on the inside.” Percival managed.

The Doctor, grinning even bigger somehow, leaned over to Donna. “Love it when they say that.”

And the madman was still grinning like this was some big _joke_ , but all Percy could do was swallow and manage to think of all of the old movies he used to love as a kid. “Is it . . . Is it . . . How is that possible?”

“Well, I got to tell you.” The Doctor walked down the ramp closer to him, and Percy had the insane wish to melt into the door, but he stood his ground. “You weren't just wrong about the Arthurian legends being fiction.”

“Alien.” Percival said, seeming to slip into a state of shock. “The ship is alien?”

“Yup.” The Doctor replied. “She's the TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space. Cool, right?”

“And you.” Percy said, seeming to completely skip everything the Doctor had just revealed to him. “Are you alien?”

“Yeah. I am, but she's not.” The Doctor pointed to Donna who waved with a slight smile. “Completely human, I'm afraid. Like you.”

“So did you kidnap her, too?” Percy asked, staring at the Doctor. However, his voice was a bit drained, so instead of accusing, he sounded like he was just stating a fact.

“No!” The Doctor exclaimed as Donna replied “Yeah.” She grinned as the Doctor gave her a betrayed look.

Percy covered his face with a hand, feeling a bit drained. “So this friend of yours. Is he real or was he a ploy to get me here?” Suddenly, his head snapped up to stare a bit angrily, though shock still seemed to dampen it. “Did you somehow invade my dreams? Is that how you knew to make him look like the boy in my nightmares?”

“Of course not!” Exclaimed Donna, looking offended. “We told you the truth.”

“Nightmares?” Asked the Doctor. “I thought you said they were dreams. Did you just see his face?”

Percy looked ashen. He gave a sigh. “At first, but then I started dreaming about people telling him what to do and him obeying.”

“And that's a nightmare?” The Doctor asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Yeah, it is.” Percival snapped, gaining some color again. “Anyway, I'm here. Are we going to save your friend or not?”

“Right.” The Doctor replied, rushing back up to the consul and his device. Percy followed slowly, not getting to close. Donna gave him a soft look, understanding in her eyes. After all, she remembered what it was like to be thrown into a world that she didn't understand with just a strange man called the Doctor for company.

But she supposed it was better this time. He wasn't as sad anymore. A part of her wanted to believe it was her that kept him happier, but she was sure that time played into it as well. After all, he was still sad when he thought she wasn't looking.

And now with what happened at Midnight . . .

“See, we're collecting the reincarnations of people who cared about Merlin to save him. You just so happened to be the first.” The Doctor grinned at the unsmiling private detective behind him before continuing, not subdued in the slightest. “Now it seems we've got the next set of coordinates for the next reincarnation. This is going to be fantastic!” Then he paused, smile falling. “No, no. Not a good word for me.”

Donna rose an eyebrow at him. “Allons-y?”

The Doctor grinned at her. “Allons-y!”

As the Tardis began to disappear in the twilight after sunset, none of the three were aware of the television flipping on in _McClain Private Eye_ to reveal a blond woman screaming silently for the Doctor.

Instead, they hurtled through the time vortex and seemed to crash land at the coordinates given for the next reincarnation. Donna and Percy struggled to stand up while the Doctor peeled himself off of the Tardis consul.

“Alright, Doctor.” Donna spoke. “Where are we now?”

The Doctor sped around the Consul to check the screen and coordinates and grinned. He leaned so he could look at both of his companions. “The French Revolution.”

 


	4. Assassinate a Servant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An assassination attempt on King Louis XVI goes very wrong.

Donna had almost reached the door when the Doctor cleared his throat rather loudly. “And where do you think you're going?” He asked as he walked around the consul to stare at her.

Donna rose one eyebrow at him, leaning to look past Percival (or really Percy considering the man didn't believe them yet – maybe it would come when he stepped out of the TARDIS to find he wasn't in the same place. “Oh, I dunno. The French Revolution, maybe?”

“Oh, really?” The Doctor quirked a smile at her, leaning against the consul and crossing his arms and ankles smugly. Percy simply looked awkwardly between them, trying to lean backward out of their way useless though it was with his frame. “Dressed like that? You'll start a riot, you will. Though I admit it's not that hard to do in France.”

Donna rolled her eyes. “Are you two boys getting dressed, then?”

“Nah.” The Doctor replied. “A bit different for men, you know.”

Donna rolled her eyes. “Typical.” Making her way to the other side of the main room, she turned at the doorway to one of the many hallways within the TARDIS. She pointed her finger at the two men. Percival looked at her uncomfortably, but her Doctor was grinning at her, amused. “Don't leave without me.”

“Wouldn't dare.” The Doctor replied.

With that, Donna turned and disappeared into the hallway. As she walked, she tried to remember where in the dressing room the period clothing she would need would be. The room reminded Donna of a shopping mall wrapped in a multilevel room with clothes from literally everywhere. Almost always, Donna had to hunt for things if she needed clothing. Walking down the hallway, she let her mind wander.

Used to the walk being ridiculously long and usually mixed in with a few wrong turns, Donna was surprised when she turned a corner and walked straight into the door to the dressing room – literally.

“Ow.” She murmured to herself, glaring at the door before flinging it open and walking through. The doors shut behind her as she walked forward. “I thought we had gotten through this.” She said to the room.

Donna knew that the TARDIS held little love for her despite arguments of it being a machine that could have no feelings. In fact, Donna was sure that it had hated her at first (probably because she had just shown up on it without it being able to grant her permission to enter), but things had been getting better between Donna and the TARDIS. They really had.

And then things like this would happen.

There was a beeping noise and a shelf from one of the top floors lowered itself down to her. “Is that supposed to be an apology?”

There was no reply, but the shelf came to a stop before her. On it were a number of dresses that she imagined were higher class than what she had planned to wear, but it seemed that the TARDIS wanted to give her something pretty today.

She perused the dresses before coming across one she liked. A pretty cream color with white frills, it looked Victorian to her, but she imagined that all dresses from the time period would look Victorian to her. Dancing across the cream dress and slightly wide skirt were gold swirls and circles. Donna wasn't much of one for dresses, but she thought it was pretty. She reached for it, but as she grazed the dress, it was pulled up and out of her reach. Donna huffed a red hair out of her face. “Fine. Not that one. I got it.”

Donna continued through the dresses, wondering when the Doctor would give up on her and take a peek outside. She doubted he would, but the thought still made her hurry a bit.

The next dress that she came across that caught her eye wasn't her color at all. It was pink – very hot pink. It had sleeves down to the elbow and lots of white ruffles and red ribbon, and two puffs under the waist like most princesses in fairy tales. It was quite pretty, but Donna knew it wasn't her color.

Then again, compared to the ugly brown and yellow thing next to it, Donna would happily go for pink.

She had just reached for it when it was pulled out of her reach. She scowled, pulling her hair into a messy bun. “What do you want me to do? Are you trying to tell me something?” The pink dress was shook again, but Donna sighed. “I don't know what it is you want. If you help me now, I swear I'll work on figuring it out, though.”

The dress stopped shaking and nothing happened for a moment. For that silent moment, Donna felt herself flush, embarrassment setting in because _she had been talking to the ship, and the ship wasn't talking to her_. She was just about ready to grab a random dress and go when one at the very end was held to her.

Donna walked forward to get a good look. This dress was dark blue with golden trim and ribbon. The sleeves turned into white lace halfway down to the elbow where it stopped and held golden bows. The piece that went down to her waist held two lines of gold. The skirt was bunched up in a way that made the dress look fuller and shinier. Gold fabric lined the bottom of the blue skirt as well that was lifted up to show a shining white fabric underneath. Donna rose an eyebrow. “Alright. I suppose we have a deal.”

After she put it on (with only a little difficulty – a surprise considering the dress itself), something dropped on her head. She pulled it off to see a dark blue cover with pearls and quickly realized what it was for. She was quick to pull it over her bun. “Careful, TARDIS. One of these days, someone's gonna think you like me.”

As if in response, the moment Donna turned to the door, there was a bang behind her from where she'd just been standing. She spun around before picking up a pair of shoes that were the cause for the bang. “If you think I'm wearing these when I'm always running around with the Doctor, you'll have to think again.”

The TARDIS made an annoyed beeping sound, and Donna realized the shoes in her hand were not her size. They held a strange texture and look, glinting with the light as if they were made of diamond and had little heels. The only bit of them with color was what looked to have been carved out of the front of the shoe toward her. It was a rose with pink coloring. Donna ran a finger over the rose edge. “Rose shoes. What do you want to tell me?”

There were more beeping sounds, and Donna sighed. “Listen. I gotta go now, but I promise that when I get back, I'll start figuring things out.”

The TARDIS beeped again, but the doors opened. Donna sighed and made her way through to the hall. With a slight detour to her room to grab her tennis shoes, she returned to the consul room.

The Doctor and Percival were pretty much just where she left them except the Doctor now sported his brown coat, and the knight who didn't know he was a knight was staring at him before looking at his own coat and back again as if comparing his trench coat with the Doctor's. The Doctor, taking no notice, grinned when he saw her. “Donna! You ready?”

“Let's go.” She replied.

They stepped out into the dead of night. Donna was expecting some kind of road with interesting smells and beggars sitting on the sides, but instead they found themselves next to one of several small bushes in the garden in front of a ginormous cream building with large, intricate windows and a large dome in the middle. The Doctor took her hand as a cool breeze ruffled her dress. Percy fell into step on her other side.

“The year is 1791. King Louis XVI succeeded to the throne in 1774 before he was twenty. I feel for the chap. He wasn't given any attention by his parents as he was their third son, and both died without giving him much support. His tutors made sure he was malleable, telling him as a shy kid that an indecisive king was a good king. He had an arranged marriage with Marie Antoinette – ”

“The cake lady?” Donna interrupted.

The Doctor, looking like he was going to go on a long-winded speech on the actual quote and what it meant, was interrupted by Percival who was looking a bit spooked but obviously trying not to show it. “Yes.”

The Doctor scowled. “Anyway, he was pretty miserable in his marriage until later on. Louis XVI always consulted with his people on what they wanted and was plenty smart, but he was a scared, shy kid handed reigns to a government with lots – and I mean _lots –_ of debt and a people with a growing resentment toward the government. He helped with religious reforms, but he drove France into near bankruptcy in the middle of the 1780s. That put him in a position where he had to support reforms that neither his people or the nobles liked. It kind of broke the man, he listened to the wrong people, made some poor decisions, and it set into motion the beginning of the French Revolution.”

“And that's where we . . . are?” Percy asked, swallowing his disbelief.

“Yes.” The Doctor replied. “This is the Tuileries Palace where the king is going to escape from with his wife in a few days, ultimately bringing on the mistrust of his people and his death. But right now, he and his family are probably sound asleep.”

“If this is the place where he was held,” Percival whispered softly, “then why aren't there any guards at the door?”

The Doctor blinked as they reached the unguarded door. “Ah.”

The three rushed forward to see the door cracked with a man who they assumed was a guard knocked out on the tiled floor inside. They rushed forward, the Doctor taking the lead as they rushed through the hallways.

“Do you know where we're going?” Donna huffed at the Doctor, her breathing too loud in the silent palace.

“Yeah.” He said. “The king's room!”

Donna decided not to ask how he knew where the king's room was, but instead found herself jerking to a stop when Percival took her hand to slow down and in turn stopped the Doctor. Before the Doctor could protest (which Donna could already see beginning by the twitch of his lips) Percival lifted a finger to his lips.

Then they heard it.

“I'm sorry.” A voice said from around the corner. “But I can't let you.”

The three glanced around the corner to see a woman in ratty, brown clothes glare at another man, a small thing in her hand pointed at the man that they couldn't see. In front of her was a young man in a long coat, a buttoned up vest, and a neckerchief. He was pale, gray eyes blown wide, and he had messy red curls framing his slightly bearded face.

And suddenly, Donna recognized him. He was the knight that had led Sir Percival's procession down the street.

“Why not?” The woman demanded. “You know what he has done, Léon, and you know what he is planning.”

“Would you not run if you knew what laid ahead?” The man asked the woman.

She scoffed. “You know what he has done and what he will continue to do. This is what needs to be done.”

“But by you?” He asked, raising a red eyebrow. Donna leaned forward, completely captured. She didn't notice Percy do the same. “Are you now the executioner of the king? Who gave you the right?”

“Are you now his knight in shining armor?” Replied the woman, but Donna could see her hands shaking with whatever it was she held. Donna imagined it was a container of poison or something, but she couldn't quite see.

“I am a loyal servant.” Stated the redhead, crossing his arms. “Though I do not approve, I understand, and I serve him.”

“Get out of my way, Léon.” She said. “Or I will make you.”

“Then make me.” He stated, gritting his teeth. “Because I will not move.”

“I'm sorry, my friend.” She whispered, raising the thing in her hands. Suddenly, the thing was in sight, and Donna recognized the old thing for what it was. A gun.

“No!” She shouted, turning the corner with Percival and the Doctor at her side, but it was too late. _Bang!_ The woman looked at them in surprise and fear as the man toppled backward against the wall, his hand lowering to his stomach. He rose it to his eyes to see blood coating his fingers.

“Leon!” Percival shouted, rushing forward. The woman ran as the three surrounded the servant, dropping her gun.

“Pressure!” The Doctor exclaimed at Donna. With just that, the two rushed to push on the bullet wound and keep the blood inside, but it kept gushing forward between their fingers, and Donna had never been so _terrified_ in her _life_ because this man wasn't just dying.

By dying, he was threatening Merlin's life, and was she selfish for that being part of the motivation to keep pushing down on the blood soaking through his vest?

The man who was Leon or Léon – she didn't know – moaned, and Donna saw his eyes focus on Percy. “You.” He breathed. “You're in my dreams.”

Then his eyes closed.

Percival gasped. “No. No! Leon, you can't!” The man slapped the redhead, but he didn't open his eyes. He shook his shoulders none too gently, and Donna hissed at him. “You can't do this. You can't! Not when I've finally remembered and got you back!”

The Doctor traded looks with her, glancing at the distraught knight.

“Come on.” He said. “We need to get him to the TARDIS.”

 


End file.
